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What Do Your Actions Teach Others?

A lesson from one of my role models still resonates with me deeply today: the more prominent your position in an organization, the louder your actions speak.

We too casually dismiss the power, importance, and responsibility of being a role model. Take a few minutes and identify the roles you play in life. Now think about the values and qualities you would like others to witness in your actions and experience through their interactions.

Talking a good game is easy. Being a living example is much tougher, requiring greater self-awareness, expansive approachability and openness to feedback, and more regular "timeouts" for realignment of actions with intentions.

As my mentor so succinctly said, "if you don't care, why would others?"

Thanks for asking Lindy. I'm a big picture guy at heart, but am trying to be very micro with each email, phone call, letter, face-to-face interaction, meeting participation, etc. It will sound cheesy, but I am asking myself "how do I want to show up/am I showing up?"

The metaphor that I'm drawing on is weightlifting. When I really focus on my form, the gain from my lifting is dramatically different, regardless of the weight. It's so easy to just go through the motions of the workout without lettings its purpose and the desired results really guide all the work along the way. I'm trying to apply that same mindset in my modeling and relationships, but it is definitely a work in progress.